


Snapshots

by RachelLeishman



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Family, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-20 18:09:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3660075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RachelLeishman/pseuds/RachelLeishman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snapshots of Ben and Leslie's lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. August 25, 2014

**August 25, 2014**

She’d find him there at times, just calculating with numbers constantly going through his head and his fingers furiously typing away at his calculator. Mr. Buttons was sure getting his usage every night when Ben thought that Leslie was sleeping. He’d ‘sneak’ out of their bed and into the living room to try and figure out how they could possibly manage three college educations at one time.  
  
Leslie knew he was hiding it from her because he didn’t want her to stress out, but Ben and sneaky were not synonymous words to her. Other than trying (and failing) to surprise her on their anniversary, Leslie was usually the one who could sneak around while Ben got too nervous.  
  
“I’m starting to get a little jealous of Mr. Buttons. He’s spending more nights with you than I am.”  
  
One would think that after having been together for almost three years, Leslie would know better than to scare him. But she had to admit that Ben was extremely cute when he was startled. His face would scrunch up and his arms would flail. Sometimes he ended up hurting himself, but this time Mr. Buttons got the worse of it.  
  
“Jesus,” he muttered, locking eyes with Leslie as he bent down to pick up his thrown calculator. “I thought you were asleep.”  
  
The bags under his eyes told Leslie just how tired Ben actually was. With the stress of the triplets and being City Manager, she wasn’t sure how he still had a full head of hair. Her little stress-shamwow was going to give himself a heart attack if he didn’t calm down.  
  
“Yeah well, when I woke up and your side of the bed was empty, I figured I better make sure you hadn’t ripped your eyes out from all the number crunching.”  
  
Ben sighed as he sat back down at his ‘office’ chair. His makeshift office was by the windows of their living room, their actual office being turned into a crafts room for Leslie and a game making center for Ben to work on the Cones of Dunshire. Normally, she would’ve gone and sat on his lap, letting her fingers run through his hair to try and calm him. But being five months pregnant carrying triplets meant that she was forced to sit on the couch.  
  
“I just-I don’t know how we’re going to do it. It helps having people give us stuff but I know I’m going to want to spoil them and get them anything they want but I’m going to constantly be worrying about how they’re all going to college at the same time and I’m not sure-“  
  
Leslie moved fast for being whale sized (according to her) as she stood up and moved to silence Ben with a kiss. If she hadn’t stopped him, she’s sure he would have just gone on for hours.  
“Ben, I’m getting a raise. We can take out loans. Our salaries will change and who knows, by the time the triplets go to college, maybe it will be free. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out. We always do. But you can’t spend every night obsessing over it. You’re going to lose your mind.” Leslie ran her hand through his hair, trying to calm him as best she could.  
  
Ben looked up at her with a sigh, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. “I know, I guess I’m just getting out my nerves about being a dad through worrying about money. At least I understand numbers and can focus on reworking and figuring everything out.”  
  
“Shouldn’t you feel better about me having triplets rather than it stressing you out? Your ego should be through the roof,” Leslie said, shifting to move back towards the couch with Ben following behind her. “If you are going to spend every waking moment worrying about money, then you’re going to end up missing so much with them once their born. And right now, you’re missing out on the last few months of it just being us. It’s the last time it will be just the two of us and it’ll never be-”  
  
“Okay, Leslie. I get it. No more just us.”  
  
He’s laughing, and she knows that he’s starting to relax a little more. Ben moved so that he was sitting with his back against the arm of the couch and Leslie could settle herself between his legs.  
  
With his hands resting on her bump, Ben could finally let Leslie and their family calm him down. “I’m nervous too, you know. I just calm myself down knowing that we’re in this together. We’ve gotten through so much and this is just the next adventure.”


	2. August 20, 2033

**August 20, 2033**  
  
She can’t stop twisting her hands and fiddling with her shirt. It’s not like she’s going to be alone. Still, she can’t help but feel like this is the end to everything she’s ever known. It’s all going to be different, and it’s all going to be terrifying, and he’s not going to be there to help her. He’s not going to be by her side telling her right from wrong. It’s going to be just up to her.

“You ready?” His voice breaks the spell, and she has to tear her eyes away from the trees outside the car window to look at him. Never in her life has she found trees as interesting as she did in that moment. Maybe because she knew that if she looked at him, she’d end up crying.  
She was strong, always had been, but this was different. This was goodbye and she was never good at goodbyes. Ever since she was a child, she had refused to say goodbye to anyone. It was always ‘see ya later’ or she would just smile and walk away. This, though, this had a finality to it. This was different.

“It’s not a goodbye, it’s never going to be a goodbye with me.”

Sonia Knope-Wyatt finally turned to look at her father, knowing that her brown eyes would betray her as they always did when it came to her dad. She couldn’t hide anything from him. Never had been able to.

College was an adventure that her brothers were ready to take on full speed ahead. They wanted to be free and do whatever they wanted. It’s not to say that they wanted to leave their parents, Wesley’s insistence that he rode up with their mom proved that he was going to miss their parents almost as much as she was. But Sonia didn’t like the idea of not having her mom and dad around her whenever she needed. In hindsight, she knew that Indiana State was not far from Indianapolis but if her parents were back home in Pawnee, Sonia couldn’t easily have them come and see her.

It was childish and it was just her eighteen year old brain telling her that she wasn’t old enough to be on her own. But that didn’t stop her from reaching for her dad’s hand when he made a move to get out of the car.

“Sunny,” he said, sighing. She could tell that he was trying to keep his cool about dropping them off. But her dad was almost as easy to read as their mom was. He couldn’t hide anything from the triplets, especially not Sonia.

“Can’t I just stay home?” Her voice caught as she spoke and she wanted to scream. For weeks, Sonia had acted like she was excited about college. Stephen, Wesley, and herself had all decided that it was best to stay together but the boys got to room together while she had to find some random off the internet. They had all spent days talking about their rooms and what they wanted them to look like and she’d tried her hardest to pretend like she was excited but now, with the looming knowledge that her mom and dad would leave in a few short hours, Sonia couldn’t hold back her tears.

It was awkward but the fact that her dad instantly tried to hold her like he used to brought a strange comfort to her. She’d always turned to her dad when she was upset. Not that her mother couldn’t comfort her, it just tended to end up with both Sonia and Leslie crying watching romantic comedies or Harry Potter if she went to her mom. Her dad always let her vent and let her do whatever she needed to until she felt better. The problem now was that he was just as upset as she was.

“You think I want the house to be quiet? You three have made so much noise for the last 18 years that I don’t think I can handle how silent it’s going to be when we get home.”

Even though he was trying to make her laugh, his voice was giving him away, but Sonia thought better than to call him out on it. Every kid did this, right? Every kid left the nest at some point, she just wanted to bring her parents with her.

“Can we make a deal, daddy? If I hate it, can I come home at the end of the semester until I figure out when I’ll be ready to leave you and mom?” Her dad laughing at her wasn’t necessarily what she wanted to hear but it made her take a moment to realize how ridiculous she was being. She was acting like what she expected her mom to have been like when she was 18.

“Fine, if you hate it that much at Christmas time, you can stay home with us and we can figure out what you’ll do after. Just don’t be like your mother and make yourself hate it because you got the idea in your head.” He sounded sincere but Sonia knew that her father loved how much she acted like her mom. He’d told her that time and time again.

“Well, I can’t make any promises.”


End file.
